Splish Splash! Waterworld is turning 30 years old this Summer, and our friends at Nostalgic Nebula are bringing it back to the big screen for a one-night-only extravaganza! Following the screening will be an in-person Q&A with writer Peter Rader, who will give us an insight into the mysteries of Waterworld, its monsters, mutants and human inhabitants.
Before Mad Max went to Fury Road, before CGI drowned cinema in pixels, there was Waterworld—a $175 million aquatic epic starring Kevin Costner as a gilled drifter navigating a sunken Earth, jet skis, pirates, and the last scraps of dry land. Mocked in its day and mythologized ever since, Waterworld has become a cult classic of the highest (sea) order: big, bizarre, and brimming with real stunts, raging fires, floating sets, and wild ambition.
From Dennis Hopper’s villainous Deacon to Jeanne Tripplehorn’s perfectly ’90s grit, this is a film that shouldn’t work—but somehow, gloriously, does. And 30 years later, it’s never looked wetter.
And Nostalgic Nebula isn’t just screening the film—they’re plunging into the deep end! Show up early at 5:30PM for a pre-show celebration featuring: Behind-the-scenes footage from the flooded set, pop culture references and parody appearances, cast & crew interviews, and other rare, lost media from the wild world of Waterworld!
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Our second Volunteer Of The Month screening comes courtesy of the amazing Ashley, as she has picked Strange Days, now celebrating its 30th anniversary!
Directed by Kathryn Bigelow, written by James Cameron and Jay Cocks, and dropped into theaters at the tail end of 1995, Strange Days imagined the future as 1999—and it still feels prophetic. A blistering mix of cyberpunk noir, apocalyptic paranoia, and visceral street-level urgency, the film follows Lenny Nero (Ralph Fiennes), a black-market dealer of “playback” clips—full-sensory VR experiences recorded straight from the mind—who stumbles onto a murder, a conspiracy, and a revolution in the making.
Set during the final 48 hours of the millennium in a decaying, riot-torn Los Angeles, Strange Days explodes with Y2K anxiety, racial tension, police brutality, and techno-addiction—all filtered through Bigelow’s kinetic, hyper-physical direction and a pounding industrial score.
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Dan O’Bannon’s The Return of the Living Dead is coming (back from the grave) to The Frida Cinema for its 40th Anniversary as part of our Fireworks At The Frida week!
What if Night of the Living Dead got punk, got louder, and got way, way messier? Enter 1985’s The Return of the Living Dead—the film that gave zombies the power to run, talk, and specifically request brains. A gleefully anarchic horror-comedy that helped redefine the undead for an entire generation, this movie turns graveyards into dance floors and medical supply warehouses into apocalyptic battlegrounds.
Directed by Dan O’Bannon (co-writer of Alien) and featuring a killer soundtrack of ’80s punk and death rock (The Cramps, 45 Grave, T.S.O.L.), the film follows a group of hapless employees and way-too-cool punks as they accidentally unleash a toxic gas that reanimates corpses—starting with a tar-covered nightmare named Tarman and escalating into full-blown zombie chaos.
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As the groundbreaking series Andor comes to a thrilling and emotional close, we invite you to return to where Cassian Andor’s journey leads: the unforgettable mission that changed the fate of the galaxy. Join us for three nights of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story–the gritty, high-stakes prelude to A New Hope that redefined where stories in the Star Wars universe could go in the 21st century!
Directed by Gareth Edwards and featuring a powerhouse ensemble cast led by Diego Luna, Felicity Jones, Riz Ahmed, Donnie Yen, and Forest Whitaker, Rogue One is a bold and unflinching tale of sacrifice, solidarity, and the ordinary heroes who dared to fight the impossible. With Andor expanding and deepening the world of Rogue One, these screenings are a chance to witness the full arc of rebellion–from the shadows of espionage to the edge of hope.
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It’s widely regarded as one of the worst movies of the Eighties..and they made a documentary about how awesome it is! Join us for a very special Sunday evening screening of Making MegaForce, followed by a Q&A with the director of the documentary, Bob Lindenmayer, and then stick around for a screening of the original 1982 film!
Starring Barry Bostwick (Rocky Horror Picture Show), Megaforce is packed with futuristic vehicles, spandex jumpsuits, insane stunts, and corny dialogue. It’s an adolescent adventure that time has forgotten. But one man remembers: director Bob Lindenmayer. And he’s on a quest to convince the rest of the world just how amazing this under-appreciated stunt-filled spectacle is. The world’s biggest Megaforce fan, Bob owns a fleet of fully operational dune buggies and motorcycles from the film.
At first, Bob’s mission is pretty straightforward – chronicle the making of this box-office flop through cast and crew interviews. But when he meets his hero, Barry Bostwick, the film takes a left turn and becomes something more than a documentary – it becomes a hilarious and touching tribute to the power of fandom, friendship, and flying motorcycles. Making Megaforce is a feature-length documentary scheduled for released in 2025, starring Barry Bostwick and directed by Bob Lindenmayer.
This program is a venue rental engagement. Member discounts and Frida Cinema comp passes not valid. The views and opinions expressed in this program do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of The Frida Cinema or its staff.
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Join us for a special one-off screening of indie darling Guacamole Yesterdays, and stick around after the show for an in-person Q&A with director Jordan Noel and writer/producer Hudson Phillips!
After a devastating separation, cartoonist Ames (Sophie Edwards, This World Alone) begins therapy with a specialist (Adetinpo Thomas, Hawkeye) who employs an experimental technology that enables Ames to relive and reshape the memories of her relationship with her husband, Franklin (Randy Havens, Stranger Things). As Ames revisits moments from their first date to their final goodbye, the boundaries between memory and reality start to dissolve. To avoid losing herself completely, she must confront the truth she’s been desperately avoiding.
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We’ve saved the best for our last Santo Sunday screening as we present Santo Vs. La Hija del Dr. Frankenstein, presented by our friends at Trash-Mex!
Dr. Frankenstein and her assistant, Dr. Yanco, are going to bring one of their experiments to life in Santo Vs. Frankenstein’s Daughter. She intends to use a monster named Ursus to do her evil bidding. Using a youth serum to retain their vitality, the doctors set their sights upon none other than El Santo. They need his super human blood to regenerate a stronger youth serum. They kidnap Santo’s goddaughter, Norma and lure him into Dr. Frankenstein’s lab where he is captured and enslaved. Will Santo make it out alive?
Trash-Mex is proud to collaborate with Permanencia Voluntaria Archivo Cinematográfico for a special screening series of Mexican icon El Santo. Join us every other Sunday this Summer for a total of eight of his greatest hits! All films will be presented in Spanish with English subtitles. Admission is $9.
This program is a venue rental engagement. The views and opinions expressed in this program do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of The Frida Cinema or its staff.
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Santo Sundays rumbles along with Santo En El Tesoro De Drácula!
El Santo assembles a time machine. After somebody uses the machine to find the hidden location of Drácula’s treasure, El Santo must hunt down & battle the fearless vampire leader.
Trash-Mex is proud to collaborate with Permanencia Voluntaria Archivo Cinematográfico for a special screening series of Mexican icon El Santo. Join us every other Sunday this Summer for a total of eight of his greatest hits! All films will be presented in Spanish with English subtitles. Admission is $9.
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Our Page To Screen series for June is Denis Villeneuve’s 2016 masterwork Arrival! Adapted from Ted Chiang’s celebrated 1998 novella Story of Your Life, the film retains the cerebral complexity of its source while transforming it into a moving cinematic experience.
The story follows Dr. Louise Banks (played by Amy Adams), a linguist enlisted to communicate with mysterious alien visitors whose ships have appeared around the globe. As she works to decode the heptapods’ intricate written language, she begins to experience time in a radically new way—past, present, and future folding into one.
Emotional and visually stunning the way only a filmmaker like Villeneuve can deliver, Arrival has quickly become a Science Fiction classic.
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Get ready to be drenched in neon as we present the oft-maligned but extremely fun Batman & Robin film from 1997!
In the second Joel Schumacher-directed installment of the Batman franchise, Gotham City faces a chilling new threat: Mr. Freeze (Arnold Schwarzenegger), a villain determined to encase the world in ice while searching for a cure for his terminally ill wife. Teaming up with the seductive and poisonous eco-terrorist Poison Ivy (Uma Thurman), Freeze launches a plan to freeze Gotham solid.
Batman & Robin embraces a high-camp, cartoonish aesthetic that sharply contrasts the darker tones of its predecessors. The result is a film saturated in spectacle, puns, and visual excess, which making it a perfect addition to our Pride Month programming!
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